1. It was Jesus' idea to give his
Church structural unity by “building” it on a rock, like a wise
man (Mt. 7:24). That “rock” was the former fisherman, Simon, the
son of John.
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| Peter with his keys and his upside-down cross, from Montserrat, Spain. |
Jesus prepared Simon for this role
through experiences, teachings (Mt. 17:25), prayers (Lk. 22: 32) and
even rebukes (Mt. 16:23) that were unique among the apostles. Then,
in a solemn way, he made it explicit by conferring on him a new name,
the way God had changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Jacob's name to
Israel. But “Peter” was a completely made-up name, invented by
Jesus. “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16: 18). Of
course, Jesus called him Kephas (Aramaic for “foundation
stone” or “rock”) and not the Greek-style “Peter,” but
Simon was known by both for the rest of his life. (We see Paul refer
to him in both ways—Kephas and Peter—within a few verses in the
letter to the Galatians, chapter 2.)
The Gospel of Matthew goes into detail
on what this name change meant, quoting the prophet Isaiah to
demonstrate the kind of authority Jesus was giving Peter. Like the
new “master of the palace,” Peter was given the Master's own set
of keys, to open and close, bind and loose. Later (Mt. 18:8) the
Apostles would be given that power to bind and loose, but only Peter
ever held the keys himself. Peter is consistently singled out among
the Twelve. When Jesus offers a challenging teaching, it is Peter who
responds for the rest (Mk. 10:28). Even when predicting Simon's
betrayals, Jesus affirms his special calling to “strengthen your
brothers” (see Lk. 22:32).
On Easter morning, the Angel at the
tomb told Mary Magdalen and the other women, “Go tell the disciples
and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee' “ (Mk. 16:7) She
ran “to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved”
(Jn. 20:1). And even though the younger disciple outran Peter, it was
Peter who first stepped into the empty tomb while the other waited
outside. At the Sea of Galilee, the Risen Jesus put the care of his
sheep and lambs into Peter's hands: “Do you love me? Feed my lambs”
(see Jn. 21:15-19).
The primitive Church expressed Peter's
special role in various ways. In every list of the names of the
Apostles (in the Gospels and in Acts), Peter's name comes first.
When the question of what to do about Gentiles seeking Baptism caused
great controversy in the Jerusalem community, threatening its peace
and unity, it was Peter whose declaration caused the assembly to
fall silent (Acts 15: 7-11).
Even Paul had to explain, in detail, a
confrontation he had had with Peter in Antioch. Although Paul took
issue with Peter's behavior (not his teaching), that episode damaged
not Peter's credibility, but Paul's.
Ultimately, the papacy comes from Jesus
himself, through Peter.
2 comments:
It is notable that Jesus called Shimon bar Yonah "petros" and then stated that he would found his church upon "ta petra". If he meant that Shimon was to be the foundation, why did he not say "ho petros"? Some Protestant apologists have said that "ta petra" referred to Jesus himself. If koine Greek were structured like American English, that might be plausible. However, I'd like to suggest a third hermrneutic: as the anarthrous "petros" ("a stone") clearly refers to Shimon, the articulated "ta petra" can be variously translated "the rock" or "this rock", and probably refers to the substance from which the "petros" is formed.
My hermeneutic, then, interprets Jesus' fateful utterance as: "You are a pebble and upon this stone (substance) I will build my church."
Thanks for weighing in! You offer an interesting "third" option on Mt. 16. What about the Aramaic substratum, since Jesus would not have been speaking in Greek, and we have the unambiguous use of "Cephas" attested by none other than St. Paul?
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